UN Secretary-General and ITC head visit Ethiopian women entrepreneurs

The international community’s next set of international development goals must promote gender equality and economic inclusion, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, after visiting a handicraft project site of the Center for African Women Economic Empowerment (CAWEE), one of the International Trade Centre’s key partners in Ethiopia.

The Secretary-General, who was in Addis Ababa for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, was welcomed to the project site in the nation’s capital by Ethiopian First Lady Roman Tesfaye and CAWEE Founder and Executive Director Nigest Haile. Ban was accompanied by his Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria, and UNDP Country Director Samuel Bwalya, as well as ITC Executive Director Arancha González and Etalem Engeda, CEO of the Entrepreneurship Development Centre.

Following a tour of the production facilities, which include spinning, dyeing and weaving operations, the Secretary-General’s delegation exchanged views with the women working there, many of whom who shared experiences on trade and exporting.

Speaking after the tour, the Secretary-General stressed the need to ensure inclusiveness and equality in the prospective Sustainable Development Goals, which are set to be adopted by governments in September at a summit in New York.

CAWEE’s women entrepreneurs are all participants in ITC’s Women and Trade programme, which works for the economic empowerment of women through trade.

Learn more about ITC’s Women and Trade Programme.